What causes SL's high dropout rate?

Not really - its still simple

If they cant afford to do, or its too unstable to do, or bad lucks prevents them from doing the things they like -

they become among the people who used to have things they liked to do, and they leave also.

You're the kind of person who will stick around and have a ball on SL once you get over the learning curve. Welcome to SL! Don't ever lose your attitude about the place or your sense of wonder at the amazing people you meet and the wealth of creativity and imagination you'll find here, and don't forget to laugh at the sheer goofiness of it all. People who take it vary seriously end up burnt out and miserable.

As far as I'm aware, they removed it because it was more about popularity with the right people than actually being good at the skills involved. I think the classic example was that an escort had a higher building rating than some of the best builders on the grid, because she was being seen in person by more people.



That's something I've actually been thinking about recently - because there's no reason why a thing like this shouldn't be resident built, to start with at least, especially now that we have the open source client to work with. The trick is, though, that "grinding" doesn't just provide goals and rewards, it also provides the psychologically valuable feeling that a) you are guaranteed to be able to reach the goal (there is no human who isn't able to grind, if they want to), and b) you can always get a bit closer next time.

That's a bit difficult to do for meaningful goals in SL. Not everyone will be able to build a business - they can't be, because L$ transactions are zero-sum - and certainly they won't be able to perform in a virtual concert when not everyone is a musician. Also, giving rewards is kind of difficult, because you have to work out a reward that can't be gotten by other means. That isn't to say there aren't rewards like that, though. Hands up who has ever collected Linden bears? Or how about Desmond's "Tulip Mania"?

It's part of the reason why, at my own Show and Tell events, in addition to the L$ prize I give out trophies. The trophies are fairly simple things that I built early on, and aren't particularly good, really - but there's no other way to get one.



Have you ever played A Tale In The Desert?



I don't think it's a case of people not having imaginations. It's a case of just imagination not being enough for people. There are all kinds of things I can imagine doing, that could possibly be built in SL, but it would take a lot of time and money and it wouldn't make them any realer.

Sorry. I wasn't advocating those in particular, just as thought starters.

I think it would be cool for all Noobs (when they finish with orientation or sometime around then) to be given X number of quests/goals/ places they must visit and then they get credit for it. Do all of them and they receive something: L$s, a piece of land, a bunch of free stuff donated by top content makers in SL, anything of value. They'd get a good tour of what's available for them in SL and keep them engaged during that critical first few days.

The original free land program was another great way to retain folks. I've got land! I need to fill it with stuff! Yes, it was gamed to its death, but I'm sure that can be fixed.
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It's not rocket science to retain customers. There are many, many solutions to this mess. But LL must decide to make that a priority, which it has yet to do.

That's what I did. Went from the orientation to a treasure hunt. Got some great stuff. Filled up a whole day. Made me want to stay and explore. I have spent little time in world since then, though, as I do not know what next I should do.

Go to a sandbox..follow the gren dots on the minimap...start conversatipons with builders and scripters showing interest in what they do...youll make some friends and learn some neat stuff.

~Lana Tomba

Sounds like something to do, a plan, a way to spend some time. I think I will first randomly explore. If I can think of somewhere to explore. I've only seen one other at the Hangout so far, that hangout I saw mentioned in these threads.

I think I will randomly put words into search, and see what there is to see. Randomly thinking of a word or phrase to try . . . "donut."

If you can ever do some homework and networking,.there are tons of private islands..not on search..and require an invite to a group to tour..but some really spectacular stuff to be seen and admired.

~Lana Tomba

Miriam, the hangout is hit and miss - often crowded, often deserted. I sometimes will check it on the map for green dots and not bother to TP over if there's no one there - I think others do the same, so if you get there and it's deserted hang around for a few minutes and it's likely someone else will show up. Also you can join the Forum Cartel group and send a group IM - that's a good way to get someone to come play with you at the hangout on short notice.

I sometimes just pick a direction from anywhere on the mainland and fly until I see a build that looks worth exploring, a shop to drop into, or a person who looks interesting to talk to. I will typically fly at a little over 100 meters to avoid ban lines and just look around as I go.

The other way I find new stuff to do is - ask people. Look at profile picks if you are too shy to ask, but don't be afraid to say "what are you favorite places to explore/hang out/play/shop?" I still do this and get heaps of LMs from people all the time. I also keep notes of the suggestions on these boards - almost every day there is something mentioned, even in passing, that seems worth a look.

PS - love your name, "Miriam" - it's my RL middle name.

Yes. SL feels like discovering web browsing again! It is not a game at all, it's server based content providing. The only difference is that this sort of web is being experienced together with other people, not just by you alone surfing alone from site to site.

Introducing any more quests (the OI is too much game-like already which causes extreme confusion) will distort the nature of what this is all about. The only "quest" newbies should learn to master is to use search. Just explain that links are called "landmarks", websites are called "sims" and "teleporting" means clicking a link... Search is google-based anyway. Let them TP off OI, not shove them to HI which is even more "boring".

I left because of the first issue. Really too unstable to continue. I had started building and couldn't do anything. Of course there is also the "whatever" response to the little I had actually been able to push through the build process.

I came back to see if I had left any money in world.

Regarding the "newbie" experience:

I think this is a major factor in the high turnover rate. Nearly every other "game" has prerendered experiences. So a new person dropped into the orientation sees a bunch of grey signs and blurry text and blurry HUD, etc.... when their expectations lie in a completely different direction.

Wouldn't it be worth LL's time to PRE-RENDER orientation? Have that stuff (instructions, signs, how-tos, and so on) downloaded with the client so that new people don't assume that there is something wrong with SL itself without any explanation about it. The newbie area should also have pictures of modified avatars so they don't assume the default shape/skin/hair is all there is to see. It was several days before I realized I could change my hair aside from the slider.

I think Monalisa might be on to something here. Teach the newbies how to find whatever they're interested in - and how to go seek it out - and let 'em go. Though maybe Help Islands would be a good intermediary stop.

Have two big doors at the new OI


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One with an Angel over it.

That leads to all the artistic, creative, neat, PG aspects of Second Life.

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The Other with a Devil over it.

That leads to the world of SL depravity (or as some like to call it - fun)



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Potentially a third door could be added, A picture of a nerdy kid laughing.

For Griefers. Going through this doo will result in Account deletion.

This is one of my favorite games. It's even more fun if you do it with someone else and take turns. You put in "donut" and tp to whatever pops up in search that strikes you as interesting, then tp your friend there. Have fun, then it's his or her turn to pick a random word and tp you somewhere. You find the most interesting things that way. You also find some utter rubbish which you can laugh at with your friend. I found a shrine dedicated to the worship of chickens, an interactive peanut butter and banana sandwich at the Church of Elvis, and got in a fight with my friend using garden rakes as weapons one night. How great is that?!

I used Search a lot when I first started ... heck, I still use it just to wander.

I kept gushing to my husband about all of the cool things I was finding in SL, and kept goading him to sign up. I'd love to have somebody to explore with! He kept saying he didn't have time. Well, he *did* sign up, and was planning on surprising me in SL one day. The problem is, he got off of OI, but didn't know how to get off of Help Island, and was just wandering around. SL is rendering very slowly for him, and he never spotted the big, green Exit sign. He finally admitted what he was doing to me, and I went and helped him out.

First thing I did was get him off of Help Island, and visited Sarah Nerd's with him to shed the newbie look. He couldn't believe the "realistic" penises (penii?) available there, and was about to leave in disgust, when I logged on, got him an OSU t-shirt out of my inventory, found him a pair of red sneakers (OSU scarlet and gray, all he'll wear), and then appealed to the geek in him by TPing him to the Star Trek museum. He was thrilled being called "Commander" and firing the phasers.

He said he never would have been able to figure it out without me, and was ready to give up, but now thinks it's cool. I wonder if a lot of people drop out because of this? He didn't know about changing his preferences for better performance, and was very frustrated because of it, and I don't know if he would have bothered with Search before quitting.

The exit from Help Island is IMHO horribly designed. I've mentioned it a few times at the volunteer meetings, but they don't want to change it.